You know one of the great things about being a home cook? You can basically do whatever you want in your kitchen. Mix up cuisines. Pair unlikely foods. As long as it tastes good and you like it, no great uber-chef in the sky is going to look aghast and tell you you can’t do what you’ve just done. Thank goodness! Case in point, this quick and easy pasta dish from my friend Peg Poswall. Ancho chiles (dried poblano chili peppers) are distinctively Mexican. Parmesan? That would be Italian. Tossed together with pasta and shrimp? Huh?
Believe me, it’s awesome.
We inhaled it. And the next day I made another batch just for me. It’s actually not that much of a stretch when you think about it. If you just replaced the ancho chiles with red chili pepper flakes you would have something that would at least appear to be more classically Italian, with the garlic, olive oil, and Parmesan. It’s the distinctive flavor of the ancho chile that provides the Wow factor here.
Ancho Chile, Shrimp, and Pasta Recipe
If you don't have access to ancho chiles, you can steer more to the Italian side and just use 1/4 teaspoon of red chili flakes to brighten up this dish.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces long, thin pasta such as spaghetti or fettucini
- Salt
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (grapeseed or canola)
- 3 thinly sliced cloves garlic
- 1 ounce (about 2 medium to large) dried ancho chiles, rinsed, seeded and deveined
- 1/2 pound 21-25 count raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed, the shrimp pieces cut into thirds
- Black pepper
- Freshly grated Parmesan
- Lime or lemon juice, fresh squeezed
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